Manufacture of welt-shoes



G. H. BLACK. MANUFACTURE or WELT sHdEs.

APPLICATION FILED DEC.28, 1 918.

Patented Sept. 21,1920.

UNITED STATES PATENT BI GEORGE H.v BLACK, OF ROCHESTER, NERPYORK, ASSIGNOR T0 UNITED SHOE MACHIN- ERY CORPORATION, OF PATERSON, NEVI JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW "JERSEY.

' MANUFACTURE or wnn'r siions.

Specificationfof Letters Patent. Pgttnted Sept. 1920. I

Application filed December as, 1918. Serial no. 268,638.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE H. BLACK, a citizen of. the United States, residing at Rochester, in the county of Monroe and State of New York, have invented certain Improvements in the Manufacture of 'Welt- Shoes, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying draw ings, is a specification, like reference characters on the drawings indicatinglik e parts in the several figures. i

The present invention relates tothe manufacture of boots and shoes and. more especially it concerns the manufacture of shoes of the well-known Goodyear welt type.

. In the manufacture of Welt shoes the welt tends to pucker or plait in conforming to the curvature at the toe of theshoe, this being particularly true in' pointed shoes which are usually made with a thin 'welt and a thinsole in order to simultate in appearance' the light, close edge obtainable in a f. turn shoe. As the result of this thickening or puckering of the welt around the toe of the shoe it is impossible totrim the inseam as close at this point as along the sides of the shoe-,which acts to warp or distort the outsole when it is applied. Thus the thickness of the sole'e'dge around the toe is increased relatively to thethickness of the sole edge along the sides of the shoe and a heavy and clumsy appearance is produced at the toe of the shoe where the reversed condition is most desired.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide an improved process of making welt shoes the practice of which will eliminate the above-mentioned :and other disadvantages heretofore encountered and will result in superior shoemaking and a more attractive appearing shoe.

In one of its aspects the invention con sists in reducing the thickness of the toe portion of the outsole to compensate for the puckering of the welt of the shoe where 1t is conformed around thetoe portion. As here-v 'in illustrated, this reduction in-the thickness of the toe portion of the outsole is obtained by removing a thin skiving of material from the flesh side of the toe portion of the outsole so that when the toe portion of the outsole is seated upon the shoe botf tom at the toe the thickness of the skived edge of the sole, togetherwith the thickness of the welt, will be substantially 'equal to the thi-cknesslof the sole plus the welt along the sides 'of the shoe;

The invention will now be more fully expl'ained in connection with the accompanying drawing which illustrates a preferred practice ofthe invention and the novelfeatures will then be pointed out in the claims. a Figure 1 is a perspective view,p'artly in section, of a welted shoe which has been made in accordance with the preferredprac+ tice of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a view illustrating the treatment of the outsole inv accordance with this invlention to adapt it for application to the s cc a r Fig. 3 is'apers'pectiveviewofthe toe por tion of the completed shoe. f Fig. 4 isa perspective view illustrating thecondition produced by .the welt in conforming to the curvature at the toe of'the shoe.

Fig. 5 is a View illustrating the action of an edgesetting iron upon the edgeo'f a sole.

In the practice of the invention ashoe'is lasted, welted' a'nd otherwise prepared for soling' in the usual or anysuitable way. In the welt attaching operation the welt 2 unavoidably fullsfand thickens where the welt strip is bent ed'gewisei'n forming it to the shoe toe, the extent of the thickening increasing as the bend becomes sharper on pointed toes. It is customary to trim the between-substance 4 as close as practical to the inseam stitches .5 at all points-and to beat the welt to make it lay as snugly as possible to the feather 6 of the insole but in spite of the best that can be done the thick-. ness of bottom stock at the end of a narrow toe is greater than at adjacent parts of the shoe, and this is very noticeable in a pointedtoe womans shoewhich is designed in an effort to present. an appearance of lightness. The defect is conspicuous when, as is frequently desirable, the edge istrimmed and set or burnished to present a'main portion or bed 3, Fig. 5, and a narrowbevel 7 at the upper or the lower corner or both of the bed. The width of the bed face on the finished edge is predetermined by the edge setting tool and any excess of width of stock shows up prominently as'an' exagger .ated or uneven width of the normally narrow bevel.

In accordance with this invention, this objectionable thickness is o'ifset or counterbalanced by reducing that marginal portion of thesole at the toe whichis to underlie the objectionably thick portion of the welt. In practising the invention satisfactory results have been obtained by removing a suitable skiving from the flesh side of the toe portion of a sole blank or block, sole 8, as at' 10. The reduction in thickness is made to' extend far enough back from the edge of the toe to include the portion 'whichlies under the welt and the inseam, but not far enough back to weaken the Wearing quality of the sole. The soleis then laid with the reduced portionin proper relation to the welt andis stitched to the Welt in the usual manner.

After the edge of the sole and welt has been shaped and the surplus projection of the Welt and upper has been cut away in the usual edge trimming operation, the edge is set by the usual edgesetting iron, appropriate pressure being'applied to produce the bed ,of the finished edge and the bevel 7 at the top and (or) bottom corner of the bed. For proper appearance the bevel or bevels must be of substantially uniform width and must not be conspicuously wider around the end of the toe than at the sides. Thisresult is insured byreducing the outsole'at the toe at least enough to compensate for the fulling' of the welt at the toe, If the reduction is slightly more than necessary, no harm is done because the edge can be thickened by appropriate pressure against the edge setting iron sufficiently to provide the'stock for forming the desired bevel, this being expected of the operative who performs the ed e setting.

aving explained the nature of the invention and described how it may be practised,

I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters'Patent of the United States '1. That improvement in the art of making Welt shoes which consists in bending a Welt strip edgewise around thetoe of the shoein the operation ofattaching the. 'weltifand trimming the inseam to prepare the shoe for the reception of the outsole; preparing the outsole to present with the welt a'sub- 'stantia'lly uniform thickness of edge around Welt shoes which consists in'compensating for excessive thickness of welt at the end of pointed-toe shoes by reducing the outsole to present with the welt substantially the same thickness of bottom stock from the inseam outwardly at the end of a pointed toe as at the sides of the toe. 7 V

3. That improvement in methods of obtaining uniformity in edge face appearance around the forepart of a welt shoe sole which consists inreducingthemarginal portion of the sole at the toe at least enough to compensate for an increase in'thickness of; the

Welt Where it is bent around the toe and, after the sole is trimmed, setting the edge with appropriate pressure to pro'ducethereon a bed and, a uniform Width of bevel or bevels at the corner or'corners of the bed at the sides and toeend' of the forepart.

Intestimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

GEORGEHS BLACK. 1 

